Sangiovese may not be a grape that is widely grown or even well known in Australia, but it’s influence across the winemaking world can’t be understated. It may be an Italian native grape but it has proven itself capable of producing exceptional wines in hot and dry climates across the globe. The French Island of…
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If you’re an investor, you’ve probably been impressed by the upward trajectory of the Coles and Woolies share prices. After all, at the time of writing, Woolworths shares have risen by about 12% in the calendar year to date, and while Coles are down this year, they’re still sitting well above their pre-pandemic levels. The…
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Having written, this year, about the chardonnay hot spots of the Orange region in New South Wales and the glorious Adelaide Hills in South Australia, I’ve copped a bit of flack from chardy-lovers for neglecting the “best chardonnay region outside of Burgundy”, (so they said) – the Margaret River in the West. And I can…
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You don’t win the prestigious James Halliday Winery of the Year unless you’ve got some serious plonk! In 2024, the winner was Bleasdale Wines from Langhorne Creek, while in 2023, it was the famed Pooley Wines in Tasmania – where they make what are undoubtedly amongst the best pinot noir from Australasia. So when the…
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I’ve always loved wines with personalities, and perhaps more so, when personalities love wine. So, when former Australian cricket captain Allan Border shared both a bottle of the wine and his story behind the Sanguine Estate Maiden Tonne shiraz, I was hooked (pardon the cricket pun). As the man once known as ‘Captain Grumpy’ explains,…
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Sustainability is seemingly the catch cry of the younger generation, so I shouldn’t be surprised that in recent years, there appears to have been a resurgence of interest in organic wines. And it isn’t just Generation Z who eschew “adulterated” varieties; I recently had a professional colleague unashamedly describe her preference as “small batch, low…
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Whether you’re trawling the shelves at your local bottle shop or working your way through the lista dei vini at an Italian restaurant, selecting a wine from the country shaped like a boot can be a confusing (if not intimidating) experience. Leaving aside the barrier of language, Italian wines are regulated by a complex set…
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Just as the pendulum swings, consumer’s palates oscillate from grape to grape and style to style. Sometimes, it’s seasonal, but other times it’s just that a change is as good as a holiday. The phenomenon is nothing new – we’ve seen the waxing and waning of the passion fruit flavoured sparkling wines of the 1970’s…
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When friends come over for dinner, what do you serve first, the expensive hero wine or the cheaper support act? It’s an age-old dilemma when you’re serving two bottles of red with the main meal on Saturday night. Is it better to warm up the palate with the cheapie and impress with the expensive wine,…
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Whether we care to admit it or not, the Australian mainland doesn’t have too many wine-producing regions that are ideally suited to making the Burgundian classic Pinot Noir. After all, it’s a finicky grape that is highly susceptible to rot and disease and doesn’t do well in warm or wet climates. For this reason, many…
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